Olympic halfpipe skier got his start in Lake Geneva

Peter Adam Crook, who will be competing in the men's halfpipe skiing in the 2014 Winter Olympics, takes a selfie on a chairlift with a few female skiers at Sochi. Crook will be representing the British Virgin Islands, but learned to ski as a child growing up in Lake Geneva. Twitter photo

LAKE GENEVA--One of the toughest parts of getting into the 2014 Sochi Olympics for Peter Adam Crook was persuading the British Virgin Islands Olympic Committee to wrap their heads around the idea of a BVI ski association—in the middle of a Caribbean Island where snow falls out of the sky as often as mini chocolate doughnuts.

But Crook himself isn't a stranger to snow—though he was born in the British Virgin Islands, he and his two siblings grew up in his mom's hometown right here in Lake Geneva, where he skied at the Grand Geneva and Alpine Valley.

Crook's parents started TMM Yahct Charters in Lake Geneva, but eventually moved back to the British Virgin Islands

There Crook got the BVIOC to sanction the ski association, which allowed him to compete internationally. Now the 21-year-old—whose nickname, according to his Olympics bio is "Earl"--will be one of the Olympic athletes in the Feb. 18 men's ski halfpipe event.

Crook, who was the flag bearer for the British Virgin Islands in the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics, is the second athlete from the Virgin Islands to compete in a winter Olympics since 1984.

As Crook himself says, “Anything is possible if you put enough hard work and effort into it.”